Arranging the music of one song...

A huge & hearty congratulations to Andy & Jill - their wedding was awesome, from the serene, Secret of Mana-esque setting of the ceremony to the amazing musical performances at the reception, it all came together beautifully. Their first dance was to Deliverance of the Heart; while possibly not the first time a wedding couple has danced to an OC ReMix, it had to be the first time that mix was also a collab between the two of them. I've already congratulated them personally, but on behalf of the community I'd like to thank them for all the music they've made individually & collectively, and all the music, memories, and joy they'll now share with us as Mr. and Mrs. Aversa!

We didn't have a particularly appropriate mix lined up, so I'm now going to segue awkwardly into talking about Hitman. Let's see... "When you think about it, marriage is LIKE contract assassination, in that..." - no, that won't work at all. How about:"The bond between a Hitman and his employer is like the bond of holy matrimony"? Probably not... it's essentially unsalvageable, thematically. However, as we wish Jill and Andy our best, we can also congratulate Sonicade, aka Kentaro Fischer, for a huge comeback mix. His first, very promising track was posted back in October of two-thousand three, so it's been almost six years between that FF9 mix and this new arrangement from Hitman. He writes:

"The Hitman games are one of my favorite series. I became a fan of Jesper Kyd through playing the games and have wanted to remix one of his tracks for awhile. I went with the Main Title from Codename 47 because I liked the tone as well as the melodies and strong strings. Hope you enjoy it!"

Sonicade's debut mix had some pretty hot production, and it's good to see that six years has only sharpened his game: Cinematic brass and strings soar over a thick electronica beat, with James Bond-ish stabs, a slick, gated synth solo pitch-bending riff, and the Middle Eastern intro motif that starts the whole thing off making a comeback later on. Following a beat drop at 2'46" we get follow-through into an extended acoustic piano solo at 3'03" that's really quite beautiful. Arrangement up until this point is fairly conservative, but the solo piano adds a lot, and the additional elements (gated synth riff, bell counter-melodies, etc.) Kentaro throws in throughout fit in perfectly. It's definitely a more additive approach to arrangement, taking the original and peppering it with additional hooks & components while reconstructing the beat/backing bits, but it certainly works for me. Check out more of Kentaro's original/compo work over at www.sonicade.com; sweet stuff, good to see you back!

Discussion

Yeah, this one isn't bad. Very simple riffs and beats but you
kinda can't help but get into the groove Once the bass picks up and the strings start to come in,
it's especially fun! I don't know what you did with the synth
that comes in at 2:03, but damn is it good! That's my favorite
part of the song

Really, this isn't what I'd call a standout track by any means,
but it's got all the makings of a good, unassuming mix that
doesn't try to be more than it is, but still throws a lot of cool
tricks at the listener with each repeated verse. Everytime I
thought this mix had given all it had to give, it threw something
new like the piano at me and I just got more into it!

The percussion's like the ideal employee: happy, busy, no
complaints, no need to overcompensate, and maintaining an
ingenuous air of professionalism. The initial lead sounds more
chill here than in the source, and the electrical bass beat at
0:41-0:50 (and afterwards) reminds me of one of the starting
beats in "CMS Level One OC ReMix." 0:52 steps up the action a
notch, bringing in Christmas-y bells for sweetening sections from
that point on. I love the smarmy lead entering at 2:01 - it knows
it doesn't carry the same humble work ethic as the other players,
but still grooves with a "holier than thou" smirk on its face.
2:45 takes a step back and reflects by way of a holy-sounding
pad, and then the piano from 3:02 onward grounds our senses and
guides us to the end.

I've not heard the original, so I'm taking this from a completely
original-song standpoint. The song, while taking a while to reach
the real meat of the mix, is a great moody buildup that plays
very well on the somewhat-recognized gypsy scale (I dunno if I'm
right in what it's called, but you know what I'm implying!). The
drums are crisp, if just a little on the flat side, but I love
the snare you used. And when the bass fuzz comes in, followed by
the processed drum fill...that was pretty sexy.

The brass is nicely leveled and the bell chime adds a lot to the
progression. The production is excellent for the most part. It's
a more laid-back groove that makes me think of a CSI cutscene,
actually. When it switches up the base chord and the piano starts
to play, I really ended up grooving to it.

While not an epic or overly-glamorous mix, this is something I
can chill out to and is well above my standards of a well-made
song. It is hard for the song to be boring, and while I do have
some small problems with it, they don't detract enough to take
away from the mix as a whole. Great job!

This has a lot more melody than I was expecting from a game
called "Hitman", but I guess that's just me assuming. This has a
surprisingly almost triumphant feel to it, which I find pretty
neat. The brass hits add a really nice flavor, I'm definately a
fan of that.

Overall, I feel like there wasn't much in the way of direction of
the piece, but it doesn't bother me that much in the end. Just
something I noticed while listening. That and the beginning got
just a tad (and I mean a very little) repetative.

I haven't played the Hitman games, but this has a great 90's
dance sound and atmosphere, and the style is very nostalgic for
me. The middle section with the modulating synths is excellent.
Send us more stuff, dude!

Some really cool textures and a bunch of really well chosen
sounds make this feel very polished right off the bat. Everything
clicked well, and though it sounded a bit more upbeat in some
sections than you'd expect a hitman game to sound, it still
sounds sophisticated and cool.

A few things that seemed overlooked was the lack of a strong
transition to the modulation about halfway through made it stick
out a bit, and the ending seemed to be abrupt, but overall this
was pretty great.

Kind of cheesy, but remixing game music is mostly like that, and
I like anyway.

More random (I could go into the positives, but I already said "I
like") comments: the transition 2/3 the way through and the
abrupt ending are both awkward. And the piano during the ending
could have been more to the forefront/clearer. That's about it
for the negative, besides potentially being beefier overall. Phat
bass and Beatdrop quality needed to be perfectly ideal. Actually
this reminds me of Beatdrop's Guardian Legend ReMix once the bass
gets deeper and somewhat more when the strings enter. I can hear
it being overlaid in a song mashup already!

Not really familiar with the hitman soundtrack I've only played
the second one but hearing this I can definitely hear this being
in a hitman game. Productions great, strings were sweet and the
piano solo was very cool. Overall nice piece =).

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